God’s Will // Matthew 6:10
Today’s verse comes from Jesus sharing what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. This verse challenges us to invert our desires. We want God to obey us, but in reality, we must submit to the Lord. I frequently jest that my life would go a lot smoother if God would do what I want. That isn’t true at all! It’s important to remember that God knows the fullness of our days and our lives, so we must trust Him, obey His Word, and commit to going His way. This, my friends, is the essence of Jesus’ statement that we should pray for God’s will to be done on earth just as it is in heaven. But, we face all kinds of conflict because the world on one hand refuses to go God’s way, and on the other hand, is incapable of doing so.
We see Jesus Himself wrestle with this in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed to the Father for the cup of suffering to be passed from Him. It was then that the commitment to obedience overwhelmed Him, steeled His spirit, and enabled Him to do what was necessary as He prayed, not my will but thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42). That’s the rub, isn’t it? It’s all about submitting to God’s will and going God’s way.
There are often big pieces of us that can wrestle with that, but wrestling in-and-of-itself isn’t sinful. Disobedience is. We see in Jesus’ example how to struggle with obedience while deciding to do the right thing even when it’s the hard(est) thing. So, if you feel challenged about seeing God’s will be done, first of all see where you might be in conflict with it. Secondly, surrender your will to God’s. Next, commit to going God’s way even when it’s hard. Lastly, trust God when it feels like things are all falling apart, because it might just be them coming together. Jesus’ ministry modeled this from beginning to end. He prayed for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and then surrender to that when it came time to the cross. You nor I will be called upon for the task of saving humanity from Satan’s sinful grasp, but our obedience might help lead someone else from it.
So, may we be ever dedicated to praying for God’s will to be done here on this plane as we remind ourselves that it is all about going God’s way as opposed to demanding God go ours.
